Photos: A dip into Bletchley's classic PC archive

The UK's cash-strapped National Museum of Computing is based at Bletchley Park, home of World War II code-breakers and the Colossus code-cracking supercomputer. One of the museum's exhibits displays the best of British personal computing through the ages. Here, silcon.com takes an exclusive look at some of the exhibits.

Research Machines RM 380Z

Dating from the late 1970s, the RM 380Z was an 8-bit microcomputer with 56KB of memory used predominantly in schools.

Peter Chilvers, volunteer at the National Museum of Computing, said: "They produced research equipment and as the microprocessor became available they designed their own computer and the RM 380Z is the product of that work. It is the only real British computer company to survive."

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com

Published: September 3, 2008 -- 14:26 GMT (07:26 PDT)

Caption by: Andy McCue

BBC Microcomputer

The BBC Micro was developed with computer manufacturer Acorn and was aimed at breaking Research Machine's stranglehold on the education market.

The model B, pictured here, sold for just under £400 and came with 32KB of memory.

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com

Published: September 3, 2008 -- 14:26 GMT (07:26 PDT)

Caption by: Andy McCue

Sinclair ZX81

At the same time as the BBC Microcomputer's debut, along came the Sinclair ZX81, which could be hooked up to a TV set with programmes and games loaded using an audio cassette recorder.

The key thing about the ZX81 was its price - a mere £70.

The National Museum of Computing's Chilvers said: "Another aspect of British computing is computing that is cheap and available to everyone. It allowed a computer to be produced for under £100 so many more people could buy the machine and develop their computing skills and develop computing as a quality British industry."

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com

Published: September 3, 2008 -- 14:26 GMT (07:26 PDT)

Caption by: Andy McCue

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

With its distinctive rubber keyboard, the 1982 follow up to the ZX81 was the colour ZX Spectrum - one of the first mainstream, mass-market PCs to appear in homes across the UK.

A generation of British teenagers grew up on classic Spectrum games such as Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner.

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com

Published: September 3, 2008 -- 14:26 GMT (07:26 PDT)

Caption by: Andy McCue

Amstrad CPC 464

Continuing with the cheap theme, the Amstrad 'Colour Personal Computer' was launched by Sir Alan Sugar in 1984 as a rival to the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64.

The 8-bit computer had 64KB of memory and came with a monitor and built-in tape deck.

The National Museum of Computing's Chilvers said: "Amstrad developed its machines aiming at the cheap end of the market, which enables it to become a mass market in Britain and why Britain is so important to the computing world."

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com

Published: September 3, 2008 -- 14:26 GMT (07:26 PDT)

Caption by: Andy McCue

Acorn Risc PC

Launched in 1994, the Acorn Risc PC came out of the development work on the BBC Microcomputer Model B. It used the Risc operating system and supported a maximum memory of 256MB.

Chilvers said: "We couldn't have a British computer museum without having the Acorn computer. But what happened to Acorn? It's a name that's not seen about so much now. The design of their chip is very powerful in computing terms. As a result, it's absolutely ideal for portable computing and few folk will have a mobile phone without such a chip in it. It's used in PDAs, mobile phones and other specialist purposes."

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com

Published: September 3, 2008 -- 14:26 GMT (07:26 PDT)

Caption by: Andy McCue

Amstrad Emailer

Not everything in the National Museum of Computing is a relic, with more recent products such as Amstrad's Emailer also on display.

Originally launched in 2000, the device is essentially a telephone that could also be used to send emails, with the cost subsidised by on-screen advertising.

Although the National Museum of Computing focuses mainly on the development of the British computing industry, there is a nod to global developments.

Here is the Commodore Personal Electronic Transactor (PET) all-in-one home PC, which launched in the late 1970s. The first 8-bit model had 4KB of memory and ran the Microsoft Basic operating system.

Photo credit: Andy McCue/silicon.com

Published: September 3, 2008 -- 14:26 GMT (07:26 PDT)

Caption by: Andy McCue

Apple II

Apple's first mass-produced home computer - also known as the Apple ][ - was launched in 1977, costing a shade under $1,300 and packed with 4KB of memory and an audio cassette interface for loading programmes.

Although it obviously looks dated now, Apple's attention to design detail was evident even at this early stage in the company's life, with the machine designed to look like a sleek box rather than an ugly electronic device.

Continuing with the cheap theme, the Amstrad 'Colour Personal Computer' was launched by Sir Alan Sugar in 1984 as a rival to the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64.

The 8-bit computer had 64KB of memory and came with a monitor and built-in tape deck.

The National Museum of Computing's Chilvers said: "Amstrad developed its machines aiming at the cheap end of the market, which enables it to become a mass market in Britain and why Britain is so important to the computing world."